Friends, I can't even believe this is a blog post I'm writing. But hey, it's 2020 so maybe I shouldn't be surprised that I had a completely random injury/medical situation spring up out of nowhere. 

I have a frozen shoulder. 

What's a frozen shoulder? 

It's an incredibly painful condition that drastically reduces (or in my case basically eliminates) all range of motion in the shoulder joint. 

What causes it? 

Who know!? No seriously, my orthopedic doctor said there can be sometimes a link between diabetes or thyroid issues and frozen shoulders, but since I have neither of those things, I'm one of many mysterious cases where this just happens for no reason. 

What the heck happened?

That's a great question and honestly, I don't know. Sometime back in August, I realized it really hurt to tuck my arm under my head in bed. I used to read laying on my shoulder, and I just couldn't anymore. My arm would not move that way. 

That was weird, and kind of alarming, but I thought maybe I just overdid a workout or something. 

Well, the condition didn't improve. In fact, things got worse fast. Suddenly I couldn't really reach up over head anymore. And then I couldn't reach across my body. I yelped in pain one night on the sofa when I quickly turned to point at something out the window and hot flashes of pain and numbness flowed down my arm. 

The last, and perhaps most annoying, movement that disappeared was the ability to reach behind my back. It's a good thing we're in quarantine and I'm living the sports bra life because I physically cannot perform the movement necessary to fasten a regular bra. 

So yea, I'm in lots of pain and I'm incredibly frustrated. 

So how do you fix that?

Another great question.

In positive news, frozen shoulders typically resolve on their own. In negative news, it can takes as long as one to two years. Sometimes physical therapy can help. So I had my first PT session last night. My doctor warned me it would hurt, and he wasn't kidding. 

So now, I get to start every day with torturous stretches and exercises to try to force my joint to become unstuck. A couple of the exercises I can manage OK, but two of them literally bring tears to my eyes because my arms just can't move the way I need it to. 

I have to stick to this routine for 30 days and then we'll reassess. 

My doctor also offered me a cortisone shot to help with the pain and inflammation. I turned it down for now because I wanted to see if PT would help (and because I like to avoid needles at cost because they make me pass out). However, if in 30 days I'm not feeling great about how PT is going, I'll probably revisit that as an option. 

Of all the injuries I've had over the years, this is not the worst or the most debilitating, but it might be the most annoying in daily life. I've been frustrated every time I find a new movement I can't do, like picking up a dumbbell off the floor to put it away yesterday caused pain, but it didn't the day before. Opening the blinds in my living rooms is not something I can do with my right arm anymore because it involves reaching overhead and applying slight pressure to a piece of fabric. Simple every day tasks now either cause pain or force me to figure out a different way to do them. 

In the grand scheme of things, this is hardly the end of the world, but it's frustrating and it's so on brand for 2020.

I was in a pretty major reading slump at the beginning of the month, mainly tied to election stress. It was hard to focus on literally anything other than CNN. 

In order to shake the slump, I picked up a lot of lighter books and more fast paced books. I returned to and finished the Blue Heron series, which are basically Hallmark movies in book form. I also enjoyed a couple of good mystery/thrillers. My goal was nothing too heavy and nothing that would make me think that hard, and I largely succeeded in getting myself out of the reading slump by the end of the month.

Five Stars

Open Book by Jessica Simpson
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I honestly can't believe I'm giving a celeb memoir five stars, but this book was really captivating. I listened to the audio version, and something about hearing Simpson tell her own story just really fascinated me. She also got choked up at times during some of the harder parts of her story, and hearing that was really powerful. Yes there's some good celeb gossip (you know I lived for the Tony Romo shade), but this is all around a great book about a celeb, I kind of only knew about from the tabloid covers.

The Last Flight by Julie Clark
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This book was un-put-downable. I just needed to know what happened after two women switched plane tickets and boarded each others' flights. One plane crashed. The other arrived at its destination carrying a different person. I stayed up so late to finish this book, and it largely did not disappoint. Fast paced, fun thriller.

Four Stars

The Best Man by Kristan Higgins
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I read the last two books in the Blue Heron series first, and decided I should go back and start at the beginning. The Best Man introduces us to Faith Holland, one of the many Holland siblings that own and work at Blue Heron vineyard. Faith was set to marry her high school sweetheart until he shared that he was gay -- on their wedding day. The book follows Faith as she tries to move on from her heartbreak. Like all the books in the series this is a light and fun read.

Anxious People by Fredrik Backman
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I started reading this book right around the election, which certainly made me in anxious person. It took me a little bit to get into the book -- see anxiety -- but once the story got going, I got pulled in quickly. I really enjoyed this book and it didn't end up where I thought it would. Not as great as Beartown, but a really enjoyable Backman book.

A Study in Charlotte by Brittany Cavallaro
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This was a really fun read that followed the descendants of Sherlock Holmes and Watson as they solved a mystery on their college campus. It was the book I needed to pick up after what felt like several slower and heavier books.

Troubles in Paradise by Elin Hilderbrand
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I'm sad to see this trilogy come to a close, but also glad to finally know what really happened to Russ and Rosie and their respective families. After three books, I felt largely satisfied with how many of the characters' storylines wrapped up. The only one that I didn't totally buy was the ending for Cash. It seemed too unbelievable. I also loved the surprising guest appearance at the end of the book when Margaret Quinn from Hilderbrand's Winter Street series showed up on the island.

Anything for You by Kristan Higgins
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

After struggling to read because of election anxiety, I needed to dive into something that was familiar and fun and light. Enter another book in the Blue Heron series by Kristan Higgins. You don't need to read these books in order, though I sort of wish I had. This story follows Connor, a chef and owner at the popular O'Rourke's pub. The book opens with his long time fling rejecting his proposal, and then jumps back in time to follow the characters from high school to modern day. Fast, easy and fun read. I'm planning to finish out the series in the coming weeks.

Waiting on You by Kristan Higgins
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I read these books out of order, which doesn't much matter except for maybe this one and the last book. Certainly nothin was spoiled, it was just I knew the outcome of some of the events already, so it held a bit less intrigue at parts. But still a good heart-warming story, which is what I needed.

Broken by Karin Slaughter
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I'm enjoying diving back into the older Will Trent books and finding out how he became the investigator he is in the more recent books. This book took us back to Grant County, where Dr. Sara Linton used to work and dug into a mysterious death and one of the officers involved. This was a good audio book and kept me on my toes.

Three Stars

The Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix E. Harrow
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This came highly recommended as a good book to escape the pandemic with, but at times I found it a little slow. In fact, I set it down for a while and picked up a different book because I needed a break. I eventually came back to it and found it did pick up a bit, but ehhh I don't know, this wasn't for me.

The Perfect Match by Kristan Higgins
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I loved reading the books in the Blue Heron series, they really pulled me out of my reading funk, but this one wasn't quite as good as the others. I'm not sure if I just couldn't get into the main character's story for a while or if it was because it was just too far fetched, but I only felt meh about this one for the first half of the book.

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It's been over a month since I ran the Marine Corps Marathon virtually. Since then, I've been taking a much needed break from running. 

If you've been reading along all pandemic, you'll remember I did the RW RunStreak in the summer from Memorial Day to the Fourth of July, running at least 1 mile each day, and then right after that jumped immediately into marathon training. 

I was feeling the running burn out pretty strongly. So this break is much needed. 

For now, I'm enjoying life not on any sort of training plan. 

I've run a grand total of three times since the marathon. 

Instead, I've gone on lots of walks, and jumped back into pretty regular strength training. It's a nice change of pace, and I'm really enjoying mixing things up.

I kind of hate that I'm going to lose a large chunk of the endurance I built up over marathon training, but I just have no motivation for running right now. And with no races anywhere on the horizon, it seems silly to push myself to run. 

I'll have plenty of time to rebuild endurance when I'm excited about running again. 

I plan to spend the weeks between now and Christmas exploring some of the virtual workout options that have sprung up as a result of covid. Variety seems fun to me right now, so that's what I'm going to stick with. 

And I've found that as the days get shorter and the weather gets colder, getting outside of the house during daylight hours is essential to my sanity. I've been going for nice long walks over much lunch break, and I've really come to appreciate the fresh air, the less intense movement, and the time away from my computer. It's a nice way to break up my day as my options for doing any sort of outside activities start to diminish. 

So that's my plan for now -- strength training and long walks. I'll reevaluate things again when the New Year rolls around or as soon as my running motivation comes back.